(*NOTE: The purpose of these two directories is place for me to store things as I do research for upcoming articles. It is also a place to store stuff that looks interesting, and can serve as inspiration for both the "Content" and "Look and Feel" of my website...)

When I created these, I was using the term "Design" to mean "The look and feel of my website, i.e. how it is designed..."

But here is the problem...

Being a Business Systems Analyst by trade, when someone says "Design" to me I think of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) and...

Analysis ---> Design ---> Development ---> Testing ---> Go Live

Really what I am setting up now is a place to keep all of my research for my website after it goes live. In other words, what will fill up my website.

So, yeah, I could have two "Design" folders, but that just seems confusing?!

Deep down, I guess I want a different name for the stuff above I am calling "Design", because to me "Design" is more like Entity-Relationship Diagrams (ERDs) and Unified Modeling Language (UML) and Architectural Designs...

In media production and publishing, content is information and experiences that provides value for an end-user/audience in specific contexts. Content is "something that is to be expressed through some medium, as speech, writing or any of various arts." Content can be delivered via many different media including, but not limited to, the internet, television, and audio CDs, books, magazines, live events, such as conferences and stage performances, etc. The word is used to identify and quantif The...

Design is the creation of a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system (as in architectural blueprints, engineering drawings, business processes, circuit diagrams and sewing patterns). Design has different connotations in different fields (see design disciplines below). In some cases the direct construction of an object (as in pottery, engineering, management, cowboy coding and graphic design) is also considered to be design. More formally design has been defined as follows....

Don't forget that OSX allows you to define comments and tags to files or folders.And then you can craft searches based on those (among others) as criteria. You can even save your favorite searches.

We all face the problem of organizing our data. And I adopted the philosophy (long ago) that it is far more important to quickly access my data rather than have it well organized.I believe it is human nature to try to apply some organization. I have been bucking that internal force and focus more on making USE of it.

HTH

Off Topic:

BTW: Welcome to the world of the MacBook. I have been enjoying mine ever since I switched (after two decades in the PC world).

In media production and publishing, content is information and experiences that provides value for an end-user/audience in specific contexts. Content is "something that is to be expressed through some medium, as speech, writing or any of various arts." Content can be delivered via many different media including, but not limited to, the internet, television, and audio CDs, books, magazines, live events, such as conferences and stage performances, etc. The word is used to identify and quantif The...

Design is the creation of a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system (as in architectural blueprints, engineering drawings, business processes, circuit diagrams and sewing patterns). Design has different connotations in different fields (see design disciplines below). In some cases the direct construction of an object (as in pottery, engineering, management, cowboy coding and graphic design) is also considered to be design. More formally design has been defined as follows....

If you have any technical background, then obviously you'd say that things like ERD's and UML are examples of "Design".

But what, then, is the "Look and Feel of a Webpage??"

A lot of people on SitePoint are "Web Designers" which use HTML, CSS, Flash, Colors, Buttons, Backgrounds, Border, and so on to "design" pretty webpages, right?

When I was in bed last night, this thought occurred to me...

Maybe I could consider "GRAPHS" and "CHARTS" to be CONTENT, and the rest of the stuff could indeed be classified as DESIGN, but the kind of design that precedes my website going live...

That is to say...

In the SDLC...

Analysis ---> Design ---> Development ---> Testing ---> Go Live

...a person probably cares about these things...

- WEB OBJECTS
- PAGE LAYOUT
- LOGOS
- BUTTONS
- BACKGROUNDS

...during the "Design" and "Development" phases of a project, and not so much after the website goes live.

So when I am collecting ideas for my website, I probably care about the items above during "Design" and "Development", while things like "Graphs" and "Charts" are more a function of the "Content" that I am writing after the website is live.

For example, I would need to decide on a Logo and Page Layout and Background/Font Colors during "Design" and "Development". And then after the website is up and running, if I write an article called "Postage Meters Can Save You Money", then at that time I might create a Graph or Chart related to said article, so they would really be part of the "Content".

Follow me? :

ParkinT said:

Off Topic:

BTW: Welcome to the world of the MacBook. I have been enjoying mine ever since I switched (after two decades in the PC world).

Oh, I lost my "Mac Virginity" back in 2008!

I am just setting up a new MacBook Pro to replace my crumbling - quite literally - old white 2008 MacBook.

I see them as pretty much as they are defined. Content is information conveyed through the written word or multimedia. Design is what makes stuff pretty to look at.

Design is not content and content is not design, although each relies on the other in order for the information to be delivered to your brain.

What you use for your personal organization methods is totally up to you. I work in a slightly different way, and your way might not work for somebody else. Everybody has their own way of organizing their thoughts and their files.

I see them as pretty much as they are defined. Content is information conveyed through the written word or multimedia. Design is what makes stuff pretty to look at.

Design is not content and content is not design, although each relies on the other in order for the information to be delivered to your brain.

To you, what is a Chart or Graph? (Content or Design?)

What about an Illustration? (Content or Design?)

Force_Flow said:

What you use for your personal organization methods is totally up to you. I work in a slightly different way, and your way might not work for somebody else. Everybody has their own way of organizing their thoughts and their files.

I'd say it's really a case of organising your data folders in a way that makes sense to you, ask 10 people on here how they organise their data and you'll probably get 10 different answers!

The last few days things seem to be clearer for me.

When I started out I was getting confused because writing an article seemed to include "design" decisions as well, like..

Do I want a Graph or Chart?

Should there be Photos?

Do I need a different Page Layout?

But after kicking things around, this is how I see things...

When I am building my Website, I have these areas/phases...

Analysis ---> Design ---> Development ---> Testing ---> Go Live

Then after the website is built, and I need to start filling it up with stuff I have...

Content Research ---> Content Development ---> Published Content

Please feel free to disagree, but I think all of the following could be considered "Content"...

- Writing
- Audio
- Video
- Graphics/Illustrations
- Graphs/Charts

So, after I write an Article, if I decide to add some supporting Photos and Charts, then those are part of the "Content", and would be done after the website is built.

By contrast, if I decide to change the Page Layout, the Page "Look and Feel", Create New Buttons or Logos, or whatever, then those things would most likely be happening back when the website is being built, and so those things would fall under the traditional (Website) "Design".

And so back to my OP, if I need a place to keep track of other Articles or Photos or Charts or Graphs from the Internet to research an Article that I am writing, then those would all fall under "Content Research".

And if I come across cool Buttons or Page Layouts or Backgrounds or CSS Features from the Internet, then those would fall under "Design" (or "Design Research") and really be separate from the "Content".